Wind Cave NP & Mt Coolidge Overlook – June 10th

June 11, 2026June 11, 2026 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Alaskan Adventure: Day 10 (& 11). Today we drove south from Custer to Wind Cave National Park. Got the Stamp and looked at the displays in the Visitors Center but did not do a cave tour. We drove north through Wind Cave NP which is part of the huge area reserved for free ranging wildlife and connects to the south end of the same open area of Custer State Park.

Wind Cave National Park has the seventh longest cave system in the world. It’s big claim to fame is “the most well-formed and abundant collection of boxwork speleothems”. We didn’t see it but below is a pic of boxwork speleothems.

We didn’t see the cave but we did see Bison in Wind Cave National Park.

The Bison are rubbing off their winter coats. They were scratching themselves on fences, road signs, and pine trees.

Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep

The crown of horns is just marvelous looking.

Everywhere we drove around the Black Hills there were pine trees either toppled over with roots tipped up or the tops of the trees just broken off. There was a 100 mph straight line wind storm 6 months previous in December of 2025.

iPhone panorama shot from the top of Mount Coolidge. 6,000′ elevation up a winding dirt road to a stone fire tower built by the CCC. This view is generally looking East toward the Badlands.

From top of Mt Coolidge looking generally West. Very tiny out there on the mountain tops are the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt Rushmore Monument.

Telephoto zoom view and then further cropped view through about 10 miles of hazy air.

Mount Rushmore from top of Mt Coolidge

Returning to Custer I had to get a pic of this really well done roadside kitsch. The Buffalo looked better than the resort it advertised.

Street corners in Custer feature painted fiberglass Bison.

A granite obelisk in Custer. Dedicated to Horace N. Ross “Discoverer of gold in the Black Hills of Custer, So. Dak. July 27th, 1674. That’s a gold pan and shovel on top.

Pics don’t do justice to the beauty of sparkling granite rocks. Weathered they are “blackish” but when broken and exposed they are very shiny and colorful.

The Dr. D.W. Flick cabin is on display in Custer. The first building erected in the Black Hills – around 1875.

Cool Barn Quilt Art in downtown Custer. We saw these as we wandered around downtown waiting for our laundry to finish at the laundromat. That wrapped up Wednesday.

Thursday morning was REALLY windy and chilly. The actual temp was 45 but the “feels like temp” was 27 and there was light snow just to the north of us! Today was a rest day, cleaning things up, airing up tires on RV and tow car, catching up on blog and journals, and making reservations for spring travel. Tomorrow morning we leave Custer and head to Devils Tower National Monument.

Day 10 Wind Cave Mt CoolidgeChilly Morning

Today’s favorite Bible reading: Jude 24-25

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Scenic Drives & Mt Rushmore NM – June 9th

June 9, 2026June 11, 2026 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Alaskan Adventure: Day 9. We drove back into Custer State Park and headed north to the Iron Mountain Highway. Then stopped at Mt Rushmore National Monument, then back south to Custer through the Needles Highway.

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Our first glimpse of Mt Rushmore was from an overlook on the Iron Mountain Highway, also called Highway 16A it winds through the Black Hills from Custer State Park to the town of Keystone and Mt Rushmore.

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A little closer view but a hazy day.

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Peter Norbeck was an influential guy in the Black Hills area. The highways he designed, with tunnel openings framing the Mt Rushmore portraits and weaving between the “Needles” of rock were fun to drive in our little tow car. Impossible with the RV.

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I thought this was funny. Special circumstances for special people isn’t a new thing. President Coolidge spent a lot of his summers at Custer State Park area in “The Presidents Quarters”.

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Closer view

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Before and After of the granite rock outcropping

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Gutzon Borglum was the sculptor but the idea wasn’t his. The idea was to increase tourism in South Dakota with faces of famous Western characters. Borglum said no to that and insisted on Presidents. It worked, South Dakota is “The Mt Rushmore State” with almost 2 million visitors a year.

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Alaska, a very latecomer to the Union and the cool North Star/Big Dipper Alaskan flag.

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Seating area for watching the monument night lighting display. Wondering if our kids remember any of this from 33 years ago?

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We had lunch at Mt Rushmore. I thought these custom light fixtures in the restaurant were a nice touch and the Alaska flag too.

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George Washington (1st Pres), Thomas Jefferson (3rd Pres), Theodore Roosevelt (26th Pres), Abraham Lincoln (16th Pres). Each face is about 60′ high, carved in granite. Below are closeup shots showing more detail of the rock faces.

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Washington

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Jefferson

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Roosevelt

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Lincoln

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The Needles Highway winds among these vertical rock outcroppings. Someone was rappelling down the rock in front of the car.

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Day 9 Iron Mountain Mt Rushmore Needles HwyNeedles Hwy_Panorama-1

We are so blessed. It was another beautiful day driving through the scenic Black Hills and visiting Mt Rushmore.

Favorite Bible reading passage today: Isaiah 43:10-13

¹⁰“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.
¹¹I, even I, am the Lord,
    and apart from me there is no savior.
¹²I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
    I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
¹³    Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
    When I act, who can reverse it?”

Jewel Cave NM & Custer SP – June 8th

June 8, 2026June 11, 2026 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Alaskan Adventure: Days 7 & 8. We are blessed to be able to attend our church “online”. We did that on Sunday morning (at 7:30am – this will be 5:30am when we get to the Alaskan time zone) before packing up and leaving Wall. Very soon after leaving town we spotted mountains on the horizon! It was a really windy day on the plains of South Dakota so driving the RV was exciting. The trip West from Wall to the town of Custer also meant going up in elevation from around 2,000′ to 5,500′ in about two hours.

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30+ MPH wind straight out of the south across the South Dakota plains. Wind let up somewhat in the Black Hills from Rapid City and on to Custer.

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Dashcam view on I-90 heading into Rapid City area. Not impressive in the photo but nice to see The Black Hills coming up on the horizon.

Our campsite at Custer KOA. Nice place to hang out for five nights to visit the Black Hills/Custer area.

https://flic.kr/p/2shXAMT

On Monday morning we visited Jewel Cave National Monument which was just 12 minutes away. This is the National Park Passport Stamp. The description in the book is a few years old. They have surveyed over 200 miles and it is the second-longest cave in North America (behind Mammoth Cave). On the map below the original opening is in Hells Canyon labeled Historic Area. We just saw an underground room called the Target Room near the Visitor Center.

We took a “Discovery Tour” with an elevator ride (instead of a tour with 780 or more steps). The tour descends into a large cave section where the park ranger had a nice talk about the cave history and the people who survey for new passages. The cave is unique because it had only one known entrance. There are now two entrances but only because they built the Visitors Center and added the elevator. They have seals on all the doors to keep the original entrance at the only “breathing” area for the whole cave system. They estimate there are over 1,000 miles of passages which would make it possibly bigger than Mammoth Cave. There was never human habitation in the cave and no animal habitation other than some bats have been discovered.

We didn’t see this on our tour but this is what gives Jewel Cave it’s name.

The cave was discovered in 1900 by two brothers searching for gold. The heard a whistling noise and discovered air blowing through an 18″ hole. Of course they dynamited it open… Only 8 years later Teddy Roosevelt protected it by making it a National Monument.

The higher elevation was really wiping us out so we rested a bit before heading back out in the afternoon to Custer State Park. It is $25 for a 7 day pass to Custer SP. We drove through the park and watched a video narrated by Kevin Costner at the Visitors Center. Then we headed out on the “Wildlife Loop Road” looking for Tatanka (Bison in Lakota).

Beautiful day and beautiful rolling hills on the wildlife loop road.

We drove quite awhile without seeing much wildlife and were prepared to come back another day when around the next bend, the hills were filled with Bison. This is one side of the road. The other side of the road was about the same!

iPhone pic through the windshield.

With guys like this watching over the herd we did not want to get out of the car.

https://flic.kr/p/2shLM87

(You may need to click the link to see the video) The car in front of us got a free car wash for about half an hour they got ‘licked’ all over. They couldn’t go forward because that guy in front of them was standing his ground. Once they started moving again the one licking the car turned around and looked straight at us like “you’re next”! He got a few licks of our bumper before we could move along but nothing like the full car wash.

This one took a dust bath in a dry buffalo wallow.

We also saw Prairie Dogs and Burros.

The Black Hills Wildlife Loop Road.

Favorite Bible reading passage of the day: Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

The Badlands National Park – June 6th

June 6, 2026June 11, 2026 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Alaskan Adventure: Day 6. Got up early this morning to avoid the crowds that arrived yesterday afternoon and to avoid the forecasted 95 degree heat. We took a different route into the park. A dirt road called Bigfoot where we came across this graceful Antelope out on the range.

Reminiscing: This has been a nice visit to the Badlands. The last time we were here in 1993 was filled with anxiety. We were driving an old brown custom dodge van I had gotten from my parents. Liz was two and Becky was pregnant with David. The first Badlands Overlook we pulled into I went to turn the van off and the key would not turn. So one of us stayed in the van with it running while the other took the kids for a quick look. We didn’t stop at many overlooks, just drove through and then stopped on the interstate at a rest area where we got directions to a Dodge dealer in Rapid City. They got the ignition switch changed out and we were on our way to Custer State Park when the differential went bad. Back to the Dodge dealer the next day to get that fixed. Grateful to God this trip has been less stressful.

In an average year rain reduces the Badlands by a little over an inch. That means that since 1776 the Badland formations are shorter by over 25 feet.

Couldn’t figure out why the deer wouldn’t look around then realized it was keeping track of two coyotes. We pulled off on a side road and enjoyed watching them keep track of each other. Last pic is a blurry, greatly enlarged crop of a coyote that was really far away.

An Upland Sandpiper.

This deer crossed the road in front of us. iPhone pic taken out the window.

We did a short hike on Door Trail. It was short because even at 8:30 in the morning it was getting really hot.

Cactus on Door Trail.

There were Tons of Swallows in the area of Door Trail. They make quite a racket and there were no bugs around.

Saw more Bison as we were leaving the park. Becky laughs because every time I get out to take a picture they turn around and start walking away…

Big Fluffy Cows can go wherever they want.

Favorite Bible Reading today: Psalm 145: A Psalm of Praise, of David.

1 I will exalt You, my God, the King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
²Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
³Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.
⁴One generation will praise Your works to another,
And will declare Your mighty acts.
⁵On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
⁶People will speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness.
⁷They will burst forth in speaking of Your abundant goodness,
And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

⁸The Lord is gracious and compassionate;
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
⁹The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
¹⁰All Your works will give thanks to You, Lord,
And Your godly ones will bless You.
¹¹They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your might,
¹²To make known to the sons of mankind Your mighty acts,
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
^[g]The Lord is faithful in His words,
And holy in all His works.

¹⁴The Lord supports all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵The eyes of all ^[h]look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
¹⁶You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
And kind in all His works.
¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
To all who call on Him in truth.
¹⁹He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry for help and save them.
²⁰The Lord watches over all who love Him,
But He will destroy all the wicked.
²¹My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

Tomorrow we will head a little further Northwest to the Black Hills area.

The Badlands National Park – June 5th

June 6, 2026June 11, 2026 / dadartphotography / 1 Comment

Alaskan Adventure: Day 5. We entered Badlands National Park from the west entrance near Walls and drove the loop road east to the main Visitor Center. It was a beautiful drive with lots of stops at overlooks for photos. Becky is so patient waiting for me to take photos. The morning drive was not busy with plenty of room at the overlook pullouts but by the time we got to the Visitors Center it was packed with people. We drove the loop road again and enjoyed seeing the landscape from the other direction. Badlands National Park is a landscape that must be experienced. I’ll just post a bunch of pics. Here’s a couple quotes from others;

“fantastically broken in form and so bizarre in color as to hardly properly belong to the earth” Theodore Roosevelt.

“indescribable sense of mysterious elsewhere” and “endless supernatural world more spiritual than earth but created out of it” Frank Lloyd Wright.

Desert Cactus was blooming everywhere on the drive, especially on the edges of the canyons.

East Entrance Sign (near Wall).

Deer literally ‘bounced’ across the grass

Our little Chevy Trailblazer tow car was really nice to drive through the park.

Lots of people tried to Homestead in the Badlands area. Very few made it.

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“Yellow Mounds” Overlook.

The main Visitors Center sign. Visit early in the morning before it’s packed with people…

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The official National Park Passport Stamp.

An old historical marker sign in Town of Wall.

We had to visit the Worlds Largest Jackalope. There is a balcony between it’s front paws.

We walked up to stand on the “Jackalope Balcony” to fully experience this roadside attraction kitsch.

We also visited the National Grasslands Visitors Center in Wall. There is only one Visitors Center for over a million acres of National Grasslands and it’s right here in Wall. They had this colorful map showing Wall in relation to many of the Black Hills places we are visiting next

DADart Photography

Duane & Becky; Retired and Wandering

South Dakota